grave, and holy religious of all the orders present in the holy council of Trent, who propounded as many difficulties and obstacles as they could offer, yet the holy council decreed and ordered as we have seen.
In conformity with that, notwithstanding the said reply which the orders of Nueva España gave to the decree of his Majesty, the orders of his Majesty in regard to the said visits seem to have been obeyed, for ten years after another royal decree was despatched, which the said father, Fray Juan Baptista, mentions on folio 396 of the said book, as follows:
“The King. Reverend father in Christ, bishop of the city of Antequera, of the valley of Huajaca, of Nueva España, and member of my council: Inasmuch as I have heard that the religious who reside in those regions, busied in the instruction and conversion of the Indians, give out that it is a cause of great disquiet and uneasiness to them for you to send to visit them, in regard to curacies, by clerics or religious of other orders; and as it is advisable to avoid all occasions that may divert them from their chief end, especially since (as they say) it is contrary to their institutes, and is the occasion of their living disconsolate, and that they are molested: I request and charge you that when you are unable to visit in person the missions of that bishopric—in accordance with the order in my decree of June first, one thousand five hundred and eighty-five,13 where this matter is discussed at greater length—for the said visits of religious who shall be in those missions, in regard to matters of curacies, of the most holy sacrament, of the baptismal font, of the building of churches, and all else concerning them, and the divine worship, you send religious of the same orders. Consequently, where there are Dominican friars, a friar of the same order shall be sent as visitor; and the same shall be observed with Augustinians, Franciscans, and those of the Order of Mercy, and of the Society. That shall be observed for the cases and in the manner contained in the above-mentioned decree. Given in Madrid, December twenty-one, one thousand five hundred and ninety-five.14
But since it was not expressed in the said royal decree of the year 585 that the religious who should administer the benefices and missions of the Indians should first be examined and approved by the bishops; and since the remedy for the public excesses of the said religious should be limited to the bishops in the decree, if there should be any excesses even in respect to curacies—the bishops proceeding in this, not in the form ruled by the said article II, of section 25, of the holy council, but by that which is declared in article 14, of the same section: his Majesty afterward decided, for considerations that satisfied him, that the authority and jurisdiction of the bishops in regard to the above be extended further, as the holy council rules; and accordingly, on November 14, one thousand six hundred and three, he despatched his royal decree for the metropolitan churches of the Indias, one of which he sent to the archbishop of these islands, which is of the following tenor:
“The King. Very reverend father in Christ, archbishop of the city of Manila of the Philipinas Islands, and member of my council: Notwithstanding that it is very carefully ordered that the ministers who are appointed to the missions of the Indians, both seculars and friars, must know the language of the Indians whom they have to instruct and teach; that they shall have the qualifications that are required for the duties of the curacies that they have to perform; and that the religious missionaries be visited by the secular prelates in regard to the curacies: I have been informed that it is not obeyed as is advisable; that the prelates do not exercise the care that is advisable in examining the said religious missionaries, in order to satisfy you that they are competent and that they thoroughly understand the language of those whom they are going to teach; and that many of their omissions and excesses in the administration of the sacraments and the exercise of the duties of curas are not remedied in the visitations. That is a great obstacle, and consequently the Indians suffer considerably in the spiritual and temporal. I have heard that their superiors are less careful in this, and in the choice of the persons, than they ought to be. And inasmuch as it is advisable for the service of God our Lord and for mine, and for the welfare of the Indians, that the ministers of instruction be such as are required for this ministry, and that they know the Indians’ language, I charge you strictly that, in accordance with what is decreed and ordained, you do not permit or allow, in the missions in charge of the orders in the district of that archbishopric, any religious to come to perform the duties of cura or to exercise that duty, unless he shall first be examined and approved by you or by the person who shall be appointed by you for that purpose, in order to satisfy yourself that he has the necessary ability, and that he knows the language of the Chinese or Indians whom he has to instruct. Those whom you shall find, in the visits that you shall make, who have not the competency, good qualities, and good example that are requisite, and who do not know sufficiently the language of the Indians whom they are to instruct, you shall remove; and you shall advise their superiors, so that they may appoint others who have the necessary qualifications, in which they also must be examined. You shall advise me of all that you do in this matter. Given in San Lorenzo, November fourteen, one thousand six hundred and three.
With the above royal decree was despatched another to the royal Audiencia, in which its observance and fulfilment is ordered and charged; and another to the same archbishop, which only contains the statement that he is strictly charged with its fulfilment.15 His Majesty says in it that it is advisable to do this for the relief of his royal conscience and that of the archbishop himself. Those decrees having arrived in the ships that came in the year six hundred and five, Don Fray Miguel de Benavides, archbishop at that time, as soon as he received them, presented all three in the royal meeting held on the second of June, of the said year, and they were obeyed and ordered to be fulfilled. But as the said archbishop died within two months, he could not carry them out; and consequently they were left unobserved, because the cabildo succeeded to the government of the vacant see. Afterward, Archbishop Don Diego Vazquez de Mercado, either because he knew nothing about them, or because he was so far prevented by his age and infirmity (as all know), did not put them into practice. At his death, Don Fray Diego de Arce, bishop of Zibú, governed this archbishopric; but he did not know of the said decrees. But as they have come to my notice, and since we are obliged, both myself and your Paternities, to observe and obey what his Holiness and his Majesty order in regard to this, as above stated, we cannot excuse ourselves from immediately putting it into execution.
We shall not be able to delay the observance of the said royal decree, by saying that since twenty years have passed since its issue, without having given it a beginning, it will be well to await his Majesty’s will once more; for, besides that things are today in the same condition as then, it appears that his Majesty, having heard that the said royal decree was not being observed in Nueva España, either because the bishops had no knowledge of it, or for other reasons, gave it again to the viceroy, Marquis de Guadalcazar, under date of November nineteen, six hundred and eighteen, in which, inserting word for word the first decree above mentioned of November fourteen, six hundred and three, he orders it to be obeyed in the following words:
“And inasmuch as it is my intention and will that what I have ordained and ordered in regard to the above be strictly observed and executed, I order you to examine the said my decree which is here incorporated, and to observe and obey it in toto, according to its contents and declarations, just as if I were talking with you, and it were directed to you. Such is my will, notwithstanding that in the lapse of time, and with the claims of the prelates and missionaries, it has been winked at or another custom introduced, which shall, under no circumstance, be in any manner allowed. Given in Madrid, November nineteen, one thousand six hundred and eighteen.
And the archbishop of Mexico having reported to his Majesty that the above decree of his Majesty of six hundred and eighteen had not been shown by the viceroy, although he had
See this decree
The original of this decree is in the Archivo general of Sevilla, ”Cartas y expedientes del gobernador de Filipinas vistos en el Consejo; años 1567–99; est. 67, caj. 6, leg. 10.”
The two decrees here mentioned (see Pastells’s
“The King: To the president and auditors of my royal Audiencia of the city of Manila, of the Philipinas Islands. Certain prelates of those regions have written to me that many religious who are appointed to the missions of Indians which are in charge of the orders do not have the competency and qualities that are required for the office of cura, which they fill; that they do not know the language of those whom they have to instruct; and that the archbishops and bishops cannot remedy this, because the religious do not come before them to be examined. And in the visits that the former make, the latter claim to be exempt from their jurisdiction, even in regard to curacies, saying that they have an indult for it; neither can their superiors remedy it. Inasmuch as it is a matter of so great consideration, I have now ordained that, in so great conformity with what is decreed and ordained, the said archbishops and bishops shall not allow any religious to enter to perform or exercise the duties of cura in the missions which are in their charge, without first being examined and approved by the prelate of that diocese, both in regard to his competency and in the language, in order to exercise the duty of cura and to administer the sacraments to the Indians of their missions, as well as to the Spaniards who may be there; that, if in the visits that the said prelates make to them in regard to curacies, any of the said religious missionaries should be found without the ability, qualifications, and example that are requisite, and who do not know sufficiently the language of the Indians whom they instruct, such religious shall be removed and their superiors advised, so that the latter may appoint others who have the necessary qualifications, in which they are to be examined; and that, if any indult or bull of his Holiness is presented to them exempting the said religious from this, they shall advise you, so that you may do your duty. And inasmuch as it is advisable that that be observed, executed, and obeyed, I charge you that you give the said prelates in that district the encouragement, protection, and aid necessary for this; and that you do not permit or allow religious to be admitted into the missions in any other way. You shall advise me of what you shall do. Given in San Lorenço, November fourteen, one thousand six hundred and three.
“The King. Very reverend father in Christ, archbishop of the city of Manila of the Philipinas Islands, and member of my council: You will see by my decree of the same date as this, which this accompanies, what I have resolved and ordered in regard to the examination of the religious who shall exercise duties as curas in the district of that archbishopric—which is not discussed here in regard to seculars, as it is a settled and fixed matter. And inasmuch as it is advisable for the relief of my conscience, and that of yours, that that decree be fulfilled and obeyed carefully, I charge you that you do so; and if any indult or brief from his Holiness be presented to you, in behalf of the orders, exempting them from this, you shall advise my royal audiencias, so that they may do their duty, and my fiscal shall plead what is suitable. You shall advise me of what you shall do in everything. San Lorenzo, November fourteen, one thousand six hundred and three.
